• It’s time for Africa to wake up and avoid dependence on donor aid.
• The continent must change its mindset and look inward to grow the health sector.
• ESG should be about transformation that brings positive change.

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) says sustainability is at the top of Africa’s political and social agenda.
Speaking during the official opening of the 2021 ACCA Virtual Africa members’ convention, FCCA President Orla Collins said business leaders across the continent has a duty to change the way they operate to include the needs of society.
Ms. Collins stated that the key element of sustainability is climate change, noting that the Professional Accountancy and ACCA Accountancy are well placed to contribute to sustainable businesses.
“We face a lot of challenges but I am optimistic that we can all play a part in finding our solutions. A big question for all of us at this convention is simply this; what is our role as professional Accountants in creating a more sustainable world?” she asked.
And ACCA Director for Africa Jamil Ampomah said the Accounting profession has been at the heart of several socio-economic challenges over the past decade.
Mr. Ampomah stated that the profession must now reposition itself in the aftermath of all the challenges to continue providing value to its communities and the wider public.
He said Accountants have a role to play in creating sustainably transformed businesses and explore accounting at the centre of policy development and economic planning.
“This virtual edition features an engaging program that’s themed around how the profession is at the heart of the continent’s route to recovery.”
“Over the past decade, the Accounting profession has been at the heart of several socio-economic challenges and our professionals have had to navigate through radical advancements in technology and even more recently, an unprecedented global pandemic,” Mr. Ampomah said.
Meanwhile, the panel discussion was center around Environmental Social Governance (ESG) adoption for African businesses, Exploring challenges and looming cost of non-compliance, and opportunities for finance professionals to facilitate the alignment of business operations to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and achievement of net-zero targets.
The panelists emphasized the need for effective skills for communicating in the boardroom and navigating naysayers to ESG and climate action targets by sharing best practice, lessons learned, and a ‘Clarion Call’ toolkit for finance professionals.
They also highlighted the Covid-19 pandemic challenges and exploring opportunities for the profession to develop safeguard policies for effective health administration in Africa.
One of the Panelists, Dr. Ovwe Sowho, Director, Ovoteri Africa, stressed the need for Africa to look within itself and avoid dependency on donor aid.
She said the continent must change its mindset and look inward to grow the health sector.
“It’s time for Africa to wake up and avoid dependence on donor aid.”
Another panelist Rodney Ndamba who is FCCA-Chief Executive Institute for Sustainability Africa said poverty is big business for others; therefore ESG should be about transformation that brings positive change in the business and economic value chains.
Speaking at the same Convention, ACCA Zambia Network Panel Chairperson Chembe Chakalashi challenged Accountants across Africa to come up with Home grown solutions that can meet stakeholders’ needs.
Mr. Chakalashi also stressed the need for Accountants to do more in Africa’s recovery process from the Covied-19 shocks by coming up with specific models that meet expectations of the environment in which they operate.
He further challenged Accountants to ensure that organizations they work for are embracing ethical reporting at all times.
And Stewart Tavonga Muchuchuti who spoke on Day of the Conference, noted that the profession has been evolving with the change that has been taking place.
He observed that the Profession has suffered massive disruption due to various industrial revolutions but it is adapting to the changes.
“Let us position the profession so that it is able to adapt to changes easily. How can we explore sustainable digital transformation to support Africa?”
ACCA has successfully hosted its third Africa Members Convention (AMC) the first time online.
The Conference started on Tuesday 14th December, 2021 to Thursday 16th December 2021, under the theme: ‘Repositioning the profession in Africa to drive and support economic recovery, sustainability, and Social governance.’
Over 6,000 ACCA members in Africa were invited, alongside key decision and policy makers across economies who will were engaged during the AMC, in order to drive actionable changes.
Day 1 of the Convention focused on the role of African accountants at the heart of the continent’s route to recovery; day 2 examined the role of digitalization on the profession, and day 3 was looking at accountants and their role in policy development in Africa and on the global stage too.